Education is the basis for creating a society that knows how to advocate for itself. In order to do that, we have to push our students to think outside the box, to know what their own limits are, and to have the resources to push for a better tomorrow.
Of course, when I put it that way, it sounds a wee bit like I’m pushing the June Rebellion of 1832. “Do you hear the people sing” indeed. But I digress.
If this course has given me anything, it would be background knowledge that allows for decision making that looks through all points of view on how a matter should be handled. It also gave me time to look into a program that helps students outside of school.
One of the best things I liked about my inquiry project was that I was able to focus on “after school programs” – or programs that encourage teens to hang out somewhere with a form of supervision and provides an amount of freedom that helps students be productive and have fun after school without having to go home to an empty house.
One of the things this particular program emphasized was freedom. If you tell teens that once they come in they can’t leave, that pushes adolescents to rebel. The open door policy that the teen center I worked with was keen on, meant that teens were more likely to stay put indoors. The would often walk down to the Rite Aid around the corner and come back with a snack of some kind. If they didn’t have money on them, there was a full kitchen in the teen center that they were more than welcome to use. There were two computers, there was a monitor to put up videos and things. There was a music corner and a gaming system and a ping pong table. The teen center focused on keeping kids entertained in safe healthy ways, and while making education on healthy eating and lifestyle information available, they didn’t push it. They just gently encouraged students to keep those factors in mind.
A teen center that is run in that way is practically a necessity in most communities. I was lucky in my home town. I had two of them. There was one program that we had for middle schoolers that was run by teachers and the local recreation department, and when I got to high school, there was a similar program run by my church for high schoolers. It gave us somewhere to go where we could feel safe and not pressured by students who were involved in drugs and alcohol. That was part of why I chose to do this particular organization for my inquiry project – because they make programs like this available, and they work as the overarching body to encourage communication between all of the state teen centers and discuss what works and what doesn’t.
In addition to teen centers, this organization works with runaway and runaway-risk youth, teens just coming out of the juvenile detention system, teens who want to get off of drugs or alcohol, teen moms, and more. The organization is so overarching that they cover almost everything – but their overall mission is to help teens find their way and create a safe environment to do so. On top of that, they work with teens who are willing to work with them, and they preserve the teens’ feelings of independence while doing so.
Independence and giving the teens the information they need means these teens are given a chance at self-advocacy. Educators can help with that process, by working with teens, helping them find the appropriate programs if they need to, or just being there to talk to if need be.